Honor's AI-Powered Smartphone Revolutionizes Online Shopping with Discount Discovery

Apple rival Honor launches AI phone tools that help users get online shopping discounts and more

BEIJING -- Imagine if Amazon gave 20% discounts for every purchase made using an iPhone Air. That's essentially how Chinese smartphone company Honor wants to attract local buyers -- by giving them an on-device AI tool that lets them quickly compare deals across Chinese e-commerce sites, including JD.com and different merchants on Alibaba's Taobao. In one example seen by CNBC, the Honor AI-powered shopping search helped save 20% since the tool was able to find coupons that a user might otherwise overlook. The features and a slew of other AI functions are set to roll out Wednesday on Honor's newly launched Magic8 smartphone as well as the company's other devices in China. The timing is notable. China is entering its busiest shopping season of the year akin to Black Friday: the Nov. 11 Singles Day promotional period. With the AI upgrade, Honor expects to climb into the top three smartphone brands by market share in mainland China by the end of this year, Fei Fang, president of products at Honor Device, told CNBC in an exclusive interview. That's according to a CNBC translation of the remarks made in Mandarin. In the future, she expects that rather than opening smartphone apps directly, users will increasingly access the functions via an AI portal -- which can then automatically provide customized services down the road. "We believe this will happen and we are working along this direction," she said, noting Honor will release more AI features in sports, health and companionship at its own ecosystem conference on Oct. 23. Honor's AI features are activated through the company's "Yoyo" chatbot, which sits inside the company's Android-based operating system called MagicOS.

Honor's AI-Powered Phone Finds Discounts, Raising Pressure on Apple | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. That's the idea behind Honor's new Magic8 series, unveiled Wednesday (Oct. 15), which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically search for lower prices and apply coupons across China's biggest eCommerce platforms. It's part of the smartphone maker's latest bid to turn AI from a background feature into a real-world benefit, and it comes as Apple faces growing pressure to prove its own devices can do more than talk about intelligence. According to CNBC, the Magic8's built-in "Yoyo" assistant allows users to say or type prompts like "find best deal" or "available coupon." The AI then scans platforms such as JD.com and Taobao, compares prices in real time, and surfaces the top savings. Honor says early users have saved up to 20% on select purchases. The system runs entirely on the device using what Honor calls a "Model Context Protocol," developed with AI firm Anthropic, to keep user data private. "Honor expects people will turn more to AI assistants rather than smartphone apps directly," Fei Fang, president of products at Honor Device, told CNBC in an exclusive interview. The company launched the phone weeks before Singles Day, China's largest shopping event, to showcase how AI can make online shopping faster and more personalized. It also partnered with Alibaba to integrate the new tools into Taobao and Tmall, embedding its AI deeper into China's retail infrastructure. Honor holds about 13% of China's smartphone market compared with Apple's 15%, according to Counterpoint Research, cited by CNBC. Since its 2020 spinoff from Huawei, Honor has been positioning itself as a tech-forward challenger by targeting younger, value-focused consumers who expect smartphones to deliver tangible utility, not just hardware upgrades. The contrast with Apple is becoming sharper. As PYMNTS reported, Apple is exploring an acquisition of Prompt AI to accelerate its technical capabilities. Even as the iPhone 17 achieved strong opening-day sales, Apple still trails Google, whose Pixel line already embeds generative AI in search, translation and image tools. Apple is also developing a tabletop robot and lifelike Siri assistant to narrow that gap. With the Magic8, Honor joins a growing list of device makers using AI to differentiate in a crowded market. The company's focus on embedded intelligence suggests the definition of a "smartphone" is changing. It's latest launch highlights how AI is shifting the smartphone market toward practical utility.